The discount supermarket group performed better than John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Coca Cola in terms of engagement and follower growth on the social media platform, according to data analysed by Instagram scheduling tool Hooper HQ.

Asda was the only brand to lose followers, with follower numbers declining by 0.57 per cent over the period of the survey (4 to 18 December).

The survey, which looked at 15 of the UK’s biggest consumer brands, also found that the most liked Christmas post was a pug in a festive dress, regrammed by H&M, which received more than 320,000 likes and 4,100 comments.

Hopper HQ co-founder Mike Bandar said: "The results of our research and analysis are surprising. We fully expected brands that are known for their Christmas marketing campaigns, like John Lewis and Marks and Spencer, to come out on top. I think what the results do show is that just because a brand invests heavily in a Christmas campaign, it doesn’t mean that it’s going to be communicated and executed well over all marketing platforms."

Bandar added: "Although Aldi maybe a surprise winner when looking at their account it’s clear why they’ve won. They’ve taken a novel ‘mosaic layout’ approach to their account, really utilising the platforms different views, whilst incorporating their offline and in store campaign with carrot characters - a worthy and a great use of best practice."